Found someone selling proof or mint sets from 1956 to 64. I am a little confused as to how each were packaged. Acording to the red book a1956 proof is worth $55 ( are these in P and D) and an uncirculated mint set is $175 (is this value P and D together). Trying to figure it out it makes a big difference in price. I would appreciate any help.
a 1956 proof set is the cent, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar (5 coins) from the philly mint (s-minted proofs started in 1968). around 50-60 is reasonable retail for that proof set. the 1956 mint set comes with 2 examples of the 5 coins (10 coins) and from each mint, P and D. so thats 20 total coins. they did this through 1958. In 1959, they started making mint sets the way they do now, just one example of each coin from the P and D mints. as to the price for the 1956 mint set, i'm not too sure. you can check ebay or numismedia.com ... hope this helps!
The early mints sets in the cardboard folder seem to be rarer & higher priced. Some of these have some beautiful toning. The proof set came in the standard cellophane flat pack, typical of the '56 thru '64 proof sets.
I think you can do better than that, but remember, you don't always see these sets in their OGP. I just picked up an OGP '55 set a few weeks ago (Red book lists $180) and I think I paid $125. The '56 proof coins were minted in Philadelphia (no D's) and once again I think you can do better than the Red Book prices. There's a lot of completed e-bay auctions at $42-$48.
I just won a '56 proof set for $36 on an ebay auction, while another one I'm watching is up to almost $50 at the moment. If you're patient you can get lucky on the price. A '55 I was watching just went for $92. Once you get up past 58/59 the sets usually are cheaper, in the $30 range.
I hate those things. I bought a couple proof sets in those recently. I, literally, was bleeding by the time I got them open. Are the screws actually supposed to spin?
The 56 set is actually selling for much less than Red Book says the value is. Found one as low as $42.50, free shipping, on eBay. The 56-64 proof sets, and the 65 SMS set, were packaged in cellowrap sleeves, and a Mint envelope; brown envelope for 56-64, and the 65 SMS set was in a white envelope. Red Book prices, and those contained in annually printed price guides are not accurate at all. The prices listed are usually outdated by the time the new edition hits the store shelves. You can check completed sales on eBay, and other online sources like Heritage and TeleTrade. That will give you an idea what things are selling for.
